Congress workers gherao CM’s vehicle and shout slogans

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, May 22: A group of 200 Congress workers greeted CM B. S. Yeddyurappa with slogans, allegedly used foul language, and held up the CM’s vehicle for a long time, causing traffic blocks for over half an hour on May 22, Sunday.

Reportedly, Yeddyurappa waited till the police arrived on the scene and arrested the protestors. The Congress workers yelled slogans and demanded its dissolution by the central government as per the governor’s recommendation.

The situation soon got out of hand and led to a road block. The police finally intervened, arrested the Congress workers, and took them away in an empty service bus and two police vans to the Barke Police Station.

Ramanath Rai, U. T. Khader, former MLA Vijaykumar Shetty, KPCC Secretary Ivan D’Souza, Corporator Shashidhar Hegde, Suresh Ballal, and many others were arrested and later released.

Congress Press Meet

As soon as they were released, MLA Ramanath Rai and MLA U. T. Khader called a press meet and said that the police arrested them because they were puppets of the ruling BJP. Khader said that the police arrested them although they were protesting peacefully.

Referring to an incident in which BJP leaders and workers protested in front of the Bantwal Police Station demanding the immediate release of one of them who had been arrested for criminal activities, Khader said that the police kept quiet even when the protest continued illegally for 3 – 4 days in front of the police station.

Ramanath Rai said that this incident will not stop their party from continuing to pressurize the central government to accept the governor’s recommendation to introduce president’s rule in Karnataka.

Rai said that the NDA would have definitely accepted the governor’s recommendation without second thoughts, but the UPA is going through the report thoroughly, adding that the BJP is “shameless” enough to criticize a humble person like Manmohan Singh in spite of this fact. He added that the CM has taken to the streets in protest, clearly illustrating that something is wrong with the system.

He alleged that just as the BJP used government buses to fetch people from far and near to Nehru Maidan, it also uses government facilities for party use. He warned that the Congress will not stop protesting till the Yeddyurappa resigns.